


Leaving Narnia

by spellingbees



Category: Chronicles of Narnia (Movies), Chronicles of Narnia - All Media Types, Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis
Genre: Leaving Narnia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:00:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26829253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spellingbees/pseuds/spellingbees
Summary: Leaving Narnia, for the Pevensies, is years of stability crumbling underneath their feet.
Relationships: Edmund Pevensie & Lucy Pevensie & Peter Pevensie & Susan Pevensie
Comments: 7
Kudos: 50





	Leaving Narnia

Leaving Narnia, for Peter, feels similar to the many wounds he earned on the battlefield over the years. Only this time, it’s like the many swords and daggers and arrows he’s felt grazing, stabbing, and slamming into his body are all hitting him at once. The agony of the absence of the magic of Narnia shreds his very soul. And suddenly, tumbling out of the wardrobe they entered fifteen years ago, he is a child again. It’s sickening to him to feel so small and powerless again. It haunts him in his dreams and sinks into his thoughts during the day. Peter would rather bare a thousand more wounds in Narnian wars than be in England now. He knows his mother sees a difference in him and his siblings that frightens her, but he can’t bring himself to care. 

Leaving Narnia, for Susan, feels like she’s forgotten what’s real. Life in England before feels like a dream, and life in Narnia feels like a dream, and so she goes about life feeling dazed. Nothing seems real. Her memories of her mother and old friends are hazy. She’s wiser than her schoolmates and she’s seen more death and destruction than her mother. Falling out of the wardrobe for Susan was like falling asleep for a moment. Blacking out, maybe. She spends her time reading works of fiction, a surprise to her family, because at least world of magic is one she knows. Her mother doesn’t understand her anymore. Susan doesn’t notice. 

Leaving Narnia, for Edmund, is numbing. He had finally felt as if he belonged somewhere, and it was ripped away from him the moment he stepped back into the spare room in the Professor’s house. He had finally felt like he was worth something, had finally gained the confidence for himself that he had always admired in Peter. He had finally achieved something and been his own person. Now he had to return to being a child, someone who was overlooked. The pain of feeling the witch in his mind didn’t fade, though. He fell into a routine of nightmares and headaches. He couldn’t escape. His mother thought it was because of the war in England. If only she knew. Edmund bit his lip, letting her think what she wished. 

Leaving Narnia, for Lucy, is so many emotions at once that she can’t even begin to pick them apart. For a short time the most she can do is cry, curled up in Peter’s or Susan’s or even Edmund’s arms. She brought them to Narnia, those many years ago. Sometimes, before they returned to their mother, she would get up in the night and walk back to the spare room, her small wobbly legs struggling to hold the weight of her mind and memories. She would reach towards the handle of the wardrobe with shaky hands and look inside with tear filled eyes that she refused to let spill over again. The back of the wardrobe is always there, as solid as the first day when she tried to show her siblings the way. There’s one morning where Peter finds her curled asleep inside of the wardrobe. His heart breaks for her. When their mother sees Lucy, she doesn’t see a little girl anymore, but she doesn’t know how to treat Lucy and differently. Lucy reassures her with small smiles. 

Leaving Narnia, for the Pevensies, is years of stability crumbling underneath their feet. It is, quite literally, a piece of their souls being chipped away. The four children feel just a bit more empty. They’re more intelligent, wise, and worn than any of the people in their lives. And yet their skin is once again smooth, their faces round, and their bodies weak and small. Their minds do not fit in these small bodies. Yet returning to Narnia is not an option. So Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy do their best.


End file.
